Merman's Kiss (Merman's Kiss, Book 1)

by Dee J. Stone

  He sits up and runs his fingers through his hair. “How easy it is to lose myself in you.”

  My chest rises and falls speedily. I raise weak, shaky hands to the sides of the boat and lift myself. Damarian pecks my forehead. I want to ask him why he doesn’t want to lose himself in me. That’s what I want—desperately. I don’t want anyone other than him, and I’m pretty sure I will never want anyone but him. My heart cries for him to lose himself in me so that we could be mated for life, and that nothing, absolutely nothing, would keep us apart.

  He touches the side of his head. “I feel a bit ill.”

  I’m about to start the engine to take him home to my pool, but then I remember we’re in the middle of the ocean. “Jump inside and swim around for a bit.”

  He nods and stands, staring down at the water. “How am I to return to a human?”

  He has a point. Getting him dry won’t be easy. I’d have to help him onto the boat or sandbar. “Maybe you should go home now and we can meet tonight.”

  He sits down and shakes his head. “I do not wish to return now. I wish to be with you.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  “Can you hold off until we get to my pool?”

  He nods.

  I start the engine.

  Chapter Twenty

  After Damarian goes for a swim, we head to the theater to catch the latest sci-fi movie. He’s really into them. We share popcorn, our hands touching a few times. A spark travels from the tips of my fingers, up my arms, and into my chest. A few couples make out as the movie runs, but we don’t copy them. Damarian’s concentrating hard on the movie. I know he’s trying to distract himself. I know he wants to get closer to me, but it’s not so simple for him. Sex is a big, big deal for humans, too, but it’s like a binding contract in his world. One he can never take back.

  I wish he were willing and ready to go down that road with me. But maybe he needs time. Maybe once we spend more time together, once we declare ourselves lovers for life, he’d be willing to take that step. I’ll wait an eternity. Okay, maybe not that long, but I’ll give him as long as he needs.

  When the movie’s over, Damarian sits back in his seat and smiles at me. “I very much enjoyed that.”

  I smile.

  We stop at a fast food restaurant and order burgers and fries. Damarian’s never tasted anything like this before. We settle down on my couch with our food and watch TV.

  He munches on his burger. “This is delicious.”

  “Mmm.”

  Sometime during the show, we end up in each other’s arms. Everything around me disappears as I lose myself in his kisses and caresses.

  ***

  “Cassie.”

  Damarian’s shaking me. I open my eyes and find him staring at me. “I must return to the sea. Are we too late?”

  I moan, stretch, and check the time. It’s nearly three AM. “We need to move.”

  The TV is still on. After I turn it off, we head for the beach. I feel myself pout. I don’t want Damarian to leave, but that’s so selfish of me. He hasn’t seen his family in days. He must miss them terribly. He’s prepared to talk to his dad. I can’t keep him locked in my bubble forever.

  When we reach the beach, Damarian takes my hand and drops to the sand, taking me with him. I cross my legs. He catches a strand of my hair that’s blowing in the warm wind and twists it between his fingers. He doesn’t say anything, but I can read it on his face.

  Tears clog my throat. “You won’t be back?”

  He flattens his palm against my cheek. “Of course I shall return.”

  I swallow the wave of tears. “What if your father doesn’t let you? What if…he pressures you to find a girl…?”

  He shakes his head. “You are the only girl for me.”

  I put my hand on his that’s resting on my cheek. “Then prove it. Get closer to me.”

  He pulls me into his arms. I shift until I’m on his lap and I wrap my legs around his waist. “How I wish,” he murmurs against my ear. “That is what I desire most, Cassie.”

  Numbness travels to every one of my limbs. I squeeze closer to him.

  “I do not wish to harm you, my love.”

  “You won’t,” I say.

  His hands wrap around my waist and dig into me as he closes his mouth over mine. Then they move down my thighs.

  “Please?” I ask.

  He gently lifts me off him and lies me down on the sand. Crawling on top of me, he lowers his lips to my ear. “It pains me to refuse you.” His fingers stroke my cheek. “I wish only to make you happy.”

  “Then tell me why we can’t. Please.”

  His lips trail down my cheek. “I am not certain of the result. I would die if something were to befall you.”

  Something like what? I don’t understand.

  “I apologize, Cassie, but I must return to the sea.”

  I grab his shoulders. “Don’t leave me, please.”

  He twirls my hair around his index finger. “I shall return. I promise we will be together shortly.”

  “When?”

  “Tomorrow night.”

  He presses his lips to mine before lifting me to my feet and raising me off the ground. He hugs me close.

  “Farewell, Cassie.” He kisses his fingers and places them on my mouth. Then he runs toward the ocean and dives in.

  I turn away just as he disappears into the waves.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Leah and I sit side by side at the beach, me in my wetsuit and she in her bikini. The weather’s so hot it could melt my skin right into the sand. Our feet rest by the tide that cools us off every time it hits.

  Leah whistles. “That sounds pretty intense.”

  I draw shapes in the sand with my index finger. A triangle, a circle. A sad smiley. A fishtail. I rub it away. “I just don’t get it, Leah. He refuses to talk to me about anything personal. And he doesn’t want to sleep with me. You should have heard how I begged him last night.” I shake my head. “I feel so stupid.”

  Leah lays her hand on my arm.

  “What does he want from me? Am I just his shiny new toy or something? If he’s not in this for long term, why am I wasting my time with him?” I bite down hard on my lower lip. “Why did I fall for him?”

  She scoots closer and throws an arm around me. “He loves you, Cass.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “The way he looks at you. He can’t be putting up an act. And for what? What would be the point of him playing you?”

  I don’t know the answer to that. Maybe the merpeople are not a magical, fantastical fairytale-type of people. Maybe they are the demonic ones you’d find in a horror movie. Maybe he’s on a mission to seduce me and kidnap me and lock me up in the ocean’s abyss.

  “He told you he loves you,” Leah says.

  I nod. “And he makes me feel so…sexy. And loved. He makes me feel like I’m the most important person in his life.”

  “And he’s risking his life and the safety of his people to spend time with you.”

  She has a point. “Then why not commit to me?”

  She digs her toes in the sand. “Commitment is a big step. Human guys have problems committing—imagine a guy having to commit to someone who’s not his kind? It’d scare the crap out of me.”

  “So you’re saying he needs time?”

  “I think you should give him a chance.”

  I pull my knees to my chest and rest my chin on them, staring off at the ocean. “Who am I kidding, Leah? I can’t have a future with a merman. He can’t live on land for more than twelve hours straight before needing salt water.”

  “Then what do you want to do?”

  Pressing my cheek into my knee, I say, “I don’t know. What am I supposed to do? I can’t go into the ocean. That means Damarian will have to live on land. How often will he visit his family? There’s no way they’ll accept me. And what do I tell my parents? Mom and Dad, this is my boyfriend, Damian. By the
way, he’s really half fish.” I emit a fake laugh. “And what if he gets caught?” I bury my face in my knees and shut my eyes. “If we have sex, Damarian will be tied to me for life. What if we realize some time down the road that we can’t have a future together? I’d ruin his life.”

  Leah’s arm tightens around me. “You guys can make it work. If you both love each other and want this, nothing should stand in your way.”

  “Maybe I should break up with him.”

  “What?” Her arm slips off my shoulder. “Cass, you’ll be heartbroken. He’ll be heartbroken.”

  “Maybe I’ll be even more heartbroken if we stretch this out much longer.”

  She slides her arm through mine and rests her head against my temple. “Think long and hard before you make any rash decisions. Think of how Damarian makes you feel. Think of how you’d feel if he’s no longer part of your life. Do you think you could ever get over him?”

  My vision grows blurry. “No.”

  “But if you see you have no future, then maybe the best thing is for you to break up. Only you can decide.”

  Tears drip down my cheeks. I wipe them away. “I know. Thanks for talking me through this.”

  She hugs me. “Anytime.”

  “I’m having lunch with my dad.”

  “I’m so glad you finally called him.”

  I nod. If not for Damarian, I’m not sure I would have. Mom pushed me, Leah pushed me. But it was Damarian who gave me the confidence to do it. Having him in my life changed me for the better.

  But maybe it’s time to say goodbye.

  ***

  I enter the beach and head for the rocks. My knees knock into each other, but not because I’m cold. It’s because I plan to have a long talk with Damarian. I don’t want to be the kind of girl who gets pushed around by the man she loves. If he won’t give me what I need—a lifelong commitment—I can’t have a future with him. As much as I love him, and as much as it pains me to admit it, it might be best for us to go our separate ways.

  My feet stop dead in their tracks when I see someone in the distance. It’s not Damarian. He’s much shorter than him and has short hair. Jet-black, short hair. A chill runs down my spine.

  Kyle.

  He steps closer to me and smirks. “Look who’s here.”

  I swallow, my heart racing, my breathing growing heavy. “K-Kyle.” I square my shoulders to appear calm and collected. “What are you doing here?”

  I want to scan the area to see if Damarian showed up, but I don’t want Kyle to get suspicious. What if Damarian swims out of the ocean? Hopefully he’ll stay there when he sees I’m not at the rocks.

  “I can ask you the same thing,” Kyle says, folding his arms. “But that would be useless. See, I know your little secret.”

  My heart races so fast I sway a little. I can feel sweat gathering on my forehead and other parts of my body. “Secret? What are you talking about?”

  He snorts, rolling his eyes. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. Your boyfriend? Fishtail? Fins? Gills?”

  My entire body freezes. No, this can’t be happening. Kyle knows. He knows. Oh my God. How could he know? He must have seen us.

  Squaring my shoulders again, I say with the best confidence possible, “What the hell are you talking about?”

  He steps forward, and I automatically stumble back. “Don’t play dumb, Cassie. I see it all over your face.”

  Oh, God.

  He smiles a sinister smile. “Who would have thought that merpeople live in the ocean! I must alert the media.”

  My whole body shakes uncontrollably and it’s hard to breathe. But I force out a snort. “Merpeople? Are you serious?” Now I force out a laugh.

  “I’m dead serious.”

  Panic conquers every inch of me. “W-what exactly are you going to tell the media?” I force out another laugh. “Think they’ll believe you?”

  With a grin, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone. “I have proof.”

  I’m frozen in place. I’m not sure if I’m even breathing.

  Kyle takes a step toward me, holding out his cell phone. He has a video. My heart sinks to the bottom of the ocean.

  But a sudden thought calms me. Kyle must have seen us on the beach in the middle of the night, when it was so dark you could hardly see a thing. There’s no way he could have gotten a clear recording of anything.

  He hits play.

  My heart sinks even deeper into the ocean. He must have used some sort of effect on his phone, because I can see myself and Damarian clearly. The image has a bluish color, but I can definitely make us out. I see myself running toward Damarian as he swims to the shore. I see myself grabbing his hands and hauling him out of the water. Damarian’s beautiful tail rises in the air. There’s no way to miss it, not with the way the moon reflects off it, basking it in a strong glow. As real as it looks, I’m pretty sure a lot of people would call it a hoax. My heart slows down a bit. But then I see myself throwing the blanket over Damarian. I see how I wrap my arms around him and hold him close as he convulses. His movements are so jerky that the blanket slides off. His transformation is as clear as day. The tail slowly fades into legs.

  There’s no way anyone could have faked that, unless he used special effects.

  But Kyle’s not done yet. He swipes to another video, one where Damarian and I are standing on the rocks. Damarian dives into the ocean, and a few seconds later, his tail shoots out of the water. Then it slams down and his head appears. A little while later, his tail replaces it and he swims away.

  That doesn’t look fake at all. Tears enter my eyes.

  Kyle slips his phone back into his pocket. “If the media won’t believe me, I can always post these videos online. Imagine, you’ll be an online sensation.” His eyes gleam. I don’t like how evil he looks. Kyle might be a jerk, but to be this evil?

  I don’t understand how I didn’t see him lurking in the shadows. I thought I was careful.

  He turns to leave. I grab his hand. “Kyle, you can’t! Please, don’t do this.”

  He jerks his hand away.

  “Why would you do this?” The tears blot my vision.

  He doesn’t say anything, just walks past me, bumping my shoulder.

  I whirl around. “Did you ever love me?”

  He stops in his tracks.

  “Did you?!”

  He nods.

  “You’re the one who broke up with me. Do you have any idea what that did to me? How long it took me to get over you? I finally met a guy I love and who’s really good to me. Why would you hurt me like this?”

  He slowly turns around to face me.

  “Are you jealous, Kyle? You can’t do this to me. You can’t rip my heart out of my chest and then deny me happiness.”

  His eyes turn hard. “This isn’t about jealousy.”

  “Then what’s it about?”

  He shakes his head and walks away.

  I spring to him and grab his hand again. “Kyle, please!”

  He pulls it away and marches off, leaving me to fall down to my knees, the tears practically blinding me.

  I sit here like this for a little while, before jumping to my feet and rushing toward the rocks. I don’t climb up. Instead, I dive into the ocean.

  The moon’s not full today, so I can barely see anything. The waves are a little violent. They crash into me, into my mouth, nearly choking me.

  “Damarian!” I call.

  My arms and legs kick like crazy, but they’re starting to get tired. Where is Damarian? I can’t let him step onto land. Kyle could be there with a camera—or worse, he could call news stations.

  It seems like the waves have gotten more violent. I go under, swallowing a lot of water. When I resurface, I cough all the water out. I don’t have a chance to take in more air when I’m pulled under again.

  I tumble around in the ocean. My lungs are about to burst. This is it. I’m going to die tonight.

  Arms wrap around my waist. A second later,
air enters my lungs. I open my eyes and find myself face to face with Damarian. He’s holding me close to his chest. “Cassie, what is the matter?”

  I grab hold of his arms. “You need to swim away! He saw you and has it on video. He’s going to expose you.”

  “Who?”

  “Kyle. It’s not safe for you here.”

  He moves me over so that I’m on his back. “Take hold of me.”

  I do as he says.

  “I am to swim under,” he calls over his shoulder. “Take in air.”

  I nod and breathe in a big gulp. As he starts to go under, my legs wrap around his middle. We’re submerged in the water. I can’t see a thing, only darkness, but I feel a lot. His powerful tail swooshes behind me, sounding like a washing machine. He’s swimming very fast.

  When we break the surface, I gasp in as much air as I can.

  “One more time,” Damarian says. “Are you prepared?”

  I nod.

  My lungs are not as strong as before. My whole body twitches as we swim in the ocean. Damarian speeds up, as if he senses that I’m about to pass out. Soon, the area around me gets lighter. Next thing I know, oxygen enters my nose and mouth.

  I scan the area. We must be in some sort of cave because the water reaches my neck. I’m paddling, but my limbs are so weak. Damarian hooks an arm around my waist.

  “Where are we?” I sputter, still coughing up water.

  “It is a cave not too far from land. We shall be safe here.”

  I’m freezing. That along with my weak limbs make me feel like I’m going to faint. My teeth clatter.

  Damarian runs his hand up and down my arm, trying to warm me up. “I must return you to land soon. Cassie, what is the matter? Who is going to expose me?”

  I tell him what happened earlier at the beach when I met Kyle. Damarian’s eyes widen. Fear clouds his face. “I’m so sorry,” I say.